Black Army

I
live in an area that has many colonies of black ants. Its not
uncommon almost everyday to see these creatures in a column going
somewhere. There are many types of black ants. Many are small, unlike
these ones which are very dark and big. Sometimes their "cities"
can be found near peoples' homes, making it look like they came to
make their dwelling among us. The fact is that man, as he moves and
expands his territory gets to build on areas home to other forms of
life.

What
makes these
black ants popular among many people is that they are extremely "hot
tempered" and easily provoked. They are ready to bite with their
mouths at the slightest provocation. However, mankind has learned to
live side by side with wildlife and appreciate the fact that life is
a platform for coexistence.

Many
occasions when
people come across the "black army" they simply stop to
give them way or jump over them and continue to go. These ants are so
sensitive that they would detect the presence of an intruder and
start to hiss. Whenever they do that, they would break out of their
single file and start to search around for the enemy. Soon it will
emerge that as they were scattered all around, they were also moving
forward.

I
once decided to
learn more on them. Not far from our farm I located their hole. It
was an opening as big as a banana in width. In order to make sure I
didn't miss out on all that they do, I started to go to their hole
half an hour before sunrise.

I
was surprised to
find that they wake up before that time and would have sent out a
number of well trusted spies already to go out and find where food
could be gathered. Usually, they look under rotting trees and grass
on the ground as that is where their food; another type of insects,
the white and red termites live.

These
spies have to
make sure they bring the reports back before sunrise. They normally
want to work when the weather is cool.

It
is a very risky
job to be a spy. Nothing less than success is demanded of them. As
they are waiting for the first "good report", the whole
community would be locked inside, but on high alert waiting for an
order to go out. Only the guards, the no nonsense sentries would stay
close to the opening of the entrance, scanning for enemies and also
in wait for the spies. The guards know who must be out at each given
time and for how long. They have strict orders to keep the whole
community safe. If anyone gets out for no apparent reason, he could
be assured that if they don't chop him into pieces as he goes, it
would happen on his return.

The
same happens to
the spies who take long to come back long after their friends have
brought back good reports. They can't enter the community anymore.
They are deemed useless and not permitted to enter into the hole.
These are the lone ones that people see moving about in the bush.
They have to learn to live on their own. The implication is that
there is great competition among the spies to make sure each one of
them comes back first. You can literally see from the urgency and
anxiety that they work with that they know what a failed mission
means to their lives.

The
problem with the black ants is that they don't want to get some
information which they can use tomorrow. They believe in today,
meaning that a late spy, even if he found food cannot convince his
friends that he has done a good job too, and that they can go there
to collect it the following day. He will be barred
for good. The "rejected" spies are nonetheless skilled
hunters and can manage to continue life on their own.

When
a spy arrives
back, he is screened to make sure he was among those who were sent.
Then he can enter. Within a short time the black ants finally get an
order and move out in a good single file. Obviously, the spy who
brought the report moves in front to lead the way. Even then, it
would be impossible to know which black ant is the leader. Many
people have believed that it’s only the leader who can move in
front. In my observation, I found that it was hard to know him. He
does not travel with the group but moves ahead some meters from them.
Meanwhile, behind him, there would be guys posing as the "leader".
One of them would go in front for some minutes, then he would fall
back, giving chance to another one to "act." There may be
more that twenty of them acting as "the leader." Among
these "impostors" would be the warrior who knows where he
saw the food.

As
the column moves,
strict discipline is demanded from everyone to maintain the same pace
and to keep in formation.

When
the dreaded army finally arrives at the scene of food collection, you
cannot like the way they treat their victims. They at once become
ferocious, turning every dry leaf and blade of rotten grass. They
would start by attacking the big red headed guards of the termites,
cutting them into pieces with untold "fury." When the area
is cleared, they would embark on killing the small white termites
until the whole camp is silenced. Then they would start to pick their
plunder. After everyone has lifted his load, an order is given and
quickly they start to move out of the
place. If it is still cool and it seems that the food is abundant
there, they will rush and come back.

The
black ants
understand the importance of food security. No matter how you try to
disturb them on the way they will not drop their food, but will try
to fend you off by producing a stench as they fiercely hiss and
scamper all over the place. Meanwhile, the "soldiers"
tasked to protect the convoy would try as much as possible to locate
and attack you, paving way for the food carriers to move on. The
soldiers do not carry food. Their job is to cover their friends.

As
the black ants
move, the soldiers would be going up and down the column to make sure
all is well. It is surprising that the black ants take even their
small young ones on hunting expeditions. These only watch what goes
on and carry no load.

When
the army
arrives at their hole, access is quickly given and as soon as they
have all entered the guards seal the entrance to prevent possible
infiltrators who may want to pose as members of the group. All their
bodies hidden, only a little fraction of their heads pop out,
scanning the area with their aerials and ever open eyes.

Immediately
after
depositing their food, a dozen "warriors" go out to look
for the lost and injured colleagues, especially the young ones. These
amateurs have to make a hissing sound to make them be noticed. They
may be lifted over and helped to cross certain obstacles or if they
are too weak or injured be “rolled up" and carried in the
mouth. This trick makes a scary sight and causes someone to think
some "weird" creature is coming up against him; making him
bolt.

It
is a well known
fact that always roll call is conducted and every individual's
presence verified. After the "medical" personnel have
certified who can recover and who can't, the condemned are bundled
outside and thrown on the dump bin to decompose. These are the
lifeless heads of insects that people see when they pass near black
ants' holes.

The
following day it
would be business as usual. The survival of the fittest continues in
a community where loyalty, bravely, self discipline and hard work are
not questionable.

Frank Lukupwa is a
Zambian writer who has been working on many articles in poetry,
fiction and nonfiction and hopes to publish them. In addition, he has
done manuscripts on nature, his favourite topic. He has attended
writing seminars on children's books with the University of Zambia. He
works as Magistrate and lives in Mumbwa, Zambia with his wife and
four children. Apart from writing,
Frank likes listening to world news and visiting places.